Fashion illustration

Fashion Illustration is the communication of fashion that originates with illustration, drawing and painting. It is usually commissioned for reproduction in fashion magazines as one part of an editorial feature or for the purpose of advertising and promoting fashion makers, fashion boutiques and department stores.

History

Fashion Illustration has been around for nearly 500 years. Ever since clothes have been in existence, and there has been a need to translate an idea or image into a fashion illustration. Not only do fashion illustrations show a representation or design of a garment but they also serve as a form of art. Fashion illustration shows the presence of hand and is said to be a visual luxury. (Drake, 9).

More recently, there has been a decline of fashion illustration in the late 1930s when Vogue began to replace its celebrated illustrated covers with photographic images. This was a major turning point in the fashion industry. Laird Borrelli, author of Fashion Illustration Now states,

Fashion Illustration has gone from being one of the sole means of fashion communication to having a very minor role. The first photographic cover of Vogue was a watershed in the history of fashion illustration and a watershed mark of its decline. Photographs, no matter how altered or retouched, will always have some association with reality and by association truth. I like to think of them [fashion Illustrations] as prose poems and having more fictional narratives. They are more obviously filtered through an individual vision than photos. Illustration lives on, but in the position of a poor relative to the fashion.

Notable fashion illustrators

Active illustrators

• David Downton (1959–)
• Nataliya de la Fosse (1972–)
• Julie Verhoeven (1969-)

Deceased illustrators

• Paul Iribe (1883–1935)
• Carl 'Eric' Erickson (1891–1958)
• 'Erté' Romain de Tirtoff (1892-1990)
• Christian Bérard (1902–1949)
• Max Hoff (1903 – 1985)
• Cecil Beaton (1904–1980)
• Dagmar Freuchen (1907-1991)
• Rene Gruau (1909–2004)
• Irwin Crosthwait (1914–1981)
• Lila De Nobili (1916–2002)
• Bernard Blossac (1917–2002)
• Kenneth Paul Block (1924–2009)
• Andy Warhol (1928–1987)
• Antonio Lopez (1943–1987)
• Joel Resnicoff (1948–1986)

Further reading

• " Le Premier siècle de René Gruau " by Sylvie Nissen & Vincent Leret. Published by Thalia Edition Paris. 2009. ISBN 978-2-35278-058-8
• An Illustrated History of Fashion: 500 Years of Fashion Illustration, by Alice Mackrell. Published by Costume & Fashion Press, 1997. ISBN 0-89676-216-5.
• Fashion Illustration Next, by Laird Borrelli. Published by Chronicle Books, 2004. ISBN 0-8118-4573-7.
• New Fashion Illustration, by Martin Dawber. Published by Batsford, 2005. ISBN 0-7134-8961-8.
• Fashion Illustrator, by Bethan Morris. Published by Laurence King Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1-85669-447-X.
• 100 Years of Fashion Illustration,, by Cally Blackman. Published by Laurence King Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1-85669-462-3.
• Essential Fashion Illustration: Details. , by Maite Lafuente. Published by Rockport Publishers, 2007. ISBN 1-59253-331-0.

References

• Borrelli, Laird. (2000). "Fashion Illustration Now," Thames & Hudson Ltd., London. (p 6-175).
• Drake, Nicolas. (1994). "Fashion Illustration Today (Revised Edition)," Thames & Hudson Ltd., London. (p 7).
• kesav articles (2012) fashion illustration today.. new edition,

Gallery

• Chinatown MRT - Illustration inspired by Pagoda Street in Singapore.jpg

  A fashion illustration, inspired by Chinatown MRT, particularly by Pagoda Street in Singapore